Crappie Fish Cleaning Tips

This technique is nothing new for you old fishing
folks, but for the new ones this willhelp you get started.

A lot of folks like using the Electric Knife, and I
guess I am likethe old dog that does not want to learn new tricks,
not to mention that it will wastea lot of meat. I recommend using the manual Fillet
Knife.

Warning, this is a very
sharpKnife and it does not know the difference between
Crappie and your fingers.

This will takeabout no more than 5 minutes per fish and the great
part is you do not have to scalethe fish like Granddad use to when cleaning the
catch.

I like to have a working station, meaning I use a
sectionof plywood, a large trash bag, water hose, and ice
chest. I have found that the plywood willnot slip while you're cleaning the fish, where as
plastic or glass is too slick. The water hoseis to keep the station clean and allows me to keep
my knife clean also.

Let's Clean Some
Fish

Step
One:

Slice the fish behind the gills all the way to the
Back Bone, but do notsever. You want to angle the knife towards the head,
so you do not waste any part ofthe crappie fillet.

Step
Two:

As you will see in the picture I have two number
two's I will explain. Startup where you made the first cut at the top and work
the knife along the BackBone being careful not to cut through
it.

You want to run the knife all the way
tothe tail. Here again being careful not to detach the
skin. Here is where the secondnumber two comes into play. Go back to the head and
work the knife at the bottom of thecrappie toward the tail, and again do not cut the
skin off.

Step
Three:

This should allow you to lay back the fish, skin
side down. Run theknife between the skin and the meat staying as close
to the skin as possible.That is why they make the fillet knives so they have
a little bend in them. By applyinga little pressure, you can glide the knife to the
tail.

Step
Four:

You will cut away the fillet leaving the
skin

Step
Five:

Take your Fillet Knife and go under the ribs from
the top to the bottomcutting the rib bones free. You will see how
important it is to have a clean andvery sharp knife to do this step.

Step
Six:

Rinse the fillet off and if not headed for the
grill, skillet, or oven, place it in aplastic sealable bag and fill it with water until
the fillet is submerged. This will eliminateFreezer burn.

Step
Seven:

Flip the fish over and repeat Step 2 thru
6.

Here is an added bonus. Do not throw the remains
away.

Set them to the side for that
specialspot you have where you plant your tomatoes. Put the
remains down in the ground andsprinkle some dirt on top then set your tomatoe
plants on top. You will be amazed athow big your tomatoes will get. Last year, I had one
plant that grew as tall as my roofand put out some of the best
tomatoes.